“Given the very alarming situation, I appeal to all states to show solidarity with Haiti and not send Haitians back to an extremely fragile country,” the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said in the release. press released by his office.
The heads of United Nations human rights and refugee agencies called on the international community on Thursday to refrain from repatriating Haitians to their country, which remains mired in a multidimensional, extreme humanitarian, security and public health crisis.
“Given the very alarming situation, I appeal to all states to show solidarity with Haiti and not send Haitians back to an extremely fragile country,” the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said in the release. press released by his office.
“It is clear that the systematic violation of rights in Haiti does not currently allow the safe, dignified and sustainable return of Haitians to their country,” said the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, for his part. in a separate press release.
The Austrian, who served from 2015 to 2019 as Deputy High Commissioner for International Protection at UNHCR, further encouraged “governments in the region to guarantee that all Haitians will have access to legal status, protection and support services , whatever the reasons they left their country”.
As of June 2022, there were 147,558 Haitian asylum seekers worldwide, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
It noted an “increase in maritime traffic to the entire region since the beginning of the year”, however, due to the cyclones that have hit the Caribbean region in recent months, arrivals by sea have slowed, a spokeswoman for the agency, Ms. Olga Sarados.
Most Haitians travel “through the Turks and Caicos Islands or the Bahamas to the US and, to a lesser extent, through the eastern Caribbean and Guyana to Chile and Brazil,” he explained.
“On the edge of the cliff”
Mr. Turk called for guarantees that all Haitians seeking asylum would have access to fair and effective procedures, recalling that international humanitarian law prohibits group refoulements and deportations without an assessment of each person’s individual needs before deciding on their return. .
He stressed that the unrelenting gun violence in the country “has accelerated Haiti’s descent into the worst human rights and humanitarian situation in decades.”
“Haiti is on the edge of the cliff,” he warned and called for “the mistakes of the past not to be repeated.”
“While addressing the violence urgently is a priority, Haiti’s future and sustainable recovery needs urgent action and support to attack the root causes of this multifaceted crisis,” and also requires “the (Haitian) government’s strong commitment to accountability and rule of law”, assessed the High Commissioner.
Since mid-September, the country has been practically paralyzed due to the blockade by heavily armed gangs of the country’s most important oil terminal, causing massive shortages of fuel and drinking water.
In the face of this chaos, a new episode in the chronic political crisis, public security crisis and humanitarian crisis, worsened by the re-emergence of cholera, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henri issued an SOS to the international community.
On October 9, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres conveyed his appeal to the Security Council, urging the study of sending an international armed force to end the “nightmare” that the country is living through.
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